Keep them moving
There are several different styles and philosophies for teaching
young people how to swim. One recurring challenge is keeping the
participants interested and the entire class moving. Here are a few
tips:
- Give preschoolers something to practice such as blowing bubbles
or kicking while practicing floats, glides or swims with other
swimmers.
- Assign swimmers different names (e.g., apple and orange). Have
all the apples do an assigned task followed by the oranges,
etc.
- While teaching strokes, use practice formations that allow more
than one swimmer to participate at one time.
- As a swimming instructor, your goal is to provide participants
with ample opportunity to practice and lots of feedback to improve
their swimming strokes and skills. To do this, remember
EGGS:
E - Explain &
demonstrate
Keep your instructions short and
specific; then demonstrate so the swimmers can see the skill. When
demonstrating, swim across the class rather than away from
them.
G - Group
practice
The more practice you give your
swimmers the better. By having more than one swimmer go at once,
you give them more opportunities to succeed and make the most of
your class time. Ensure that you are constantly scanning the entire
class while they are practicing.
G - Group feedback &
correction
After completing a skill, give the
swimmers feedback and correction as a group. Make sure you give
them an opportunity to practice the skill again and reinforce your
feedback.
S - Specific feedback &
correction
While the group is practicing, provide each swimmer with
specific feedback of what they need to work on. Remember to correct
the most serious errors first, and let the swimmer concentrate on a
single correction at a time.
By using the EGGS principle, you will maximize the amount of
practice time per participant and give the swimmers lots of
opportunities to improve their strokes and skills.
Remember, the best place to learn how to swim is in the
water!